The Bad Fire - Hardcover

Armstrong, Campbell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007117566 ISBN 13: 9780007117567

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

Synopsis

A mystery, thriller and portrait of a vital city – Glasgow – The Bad Fire is Campbell Armstrong’s finest novel since his unforgettable worldwide bestseller Jig.

Eddie Mallon has grown away from his roots, and away from the city of Glasgow. Eddie was just a child when his family fractured down the middle. He went to America with his mother; his sister Joyce stayed in Glasgow with their father, the charming, violent, mercurial Jackie Mallon.

Now Jackie has been murdered and the son he didn’t know is coming home for the funeral. Try as he might, Eddie cannot resist pushing beyond the bland front presented by the local investigators. And when he does, he finds himself spiralling into the mysteries of the past as well as the present.

The Bad Fire is the place where children are told they will go if they commit a sin. Eddie is about to find out that even after all these years, the fire never goes out.

Lyrical, elegiac, suspenseful and thrilling, The Bad Fire is populated by a cast of superbly drawn individuals, with the city of Glasgow a brilliantly evoked character in its own right.

About this title

Review:

‘Armstrong is a wonderfully atmospheric writer who shines a light into the dark corners of the human heart.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘He not only has a whiplash style, he also has a gift for understanding character, and his dialogue rings true.’ New York Times

‘Armstrong is among the most intriguing of blockbuster writers... near to unputdownable’ GQ

‘Armstrong creates electric tension.’ Daily Telegraph

‘Armstrong has discovered a way with words that raises him above the routine level of the marketplace.’ The Times

From the Publisher:

A thriller by the author of JIG and ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS
Eddie Mallon has grown away from his roots, and away from the city of Glasgow. Eddie was just a child when his family fractured down the middle. He went to America with his mother; his sister Joyce stayed in Glasgow with their father, the charming, violent, mercurial Jackie Mallon.

Now Jackie has been murdered and the son he didn’t know is coming home for the funeral. Try as he might, Eddie cannot resist pushing beyond the bland front presented by the local investigators. And when he does, he finds himself spiralling into the mysteries of the past as well as the present.

The Bad Fire is the place where children are told they will go if they commit a sin. Eddie is about to find out that even after all these years, the fire never goes out.

· Campbell Armstrong returns to his native Glasgow with a novel as full of human insight and relentless suspense as anything he has written in his remarkable career.

· Lyrical, elegiac, suspenseful and thrilling, THE BAD FIRE is populated by a cast of superbly drawn individuals, with the city of Glasgow a brilliantly evoked character in its own right.

‘Armstrong is a wonderfully atmospheric writer who shines a light into the dark corners of the human heart’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Armstrong is among the most intriguing of blockbuster writers . . . near to unputdownable’ GQ

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0007117566
• ISBN 13: 9780007117567
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480